The Jersey Shore – Asbury Park

A mile out of Lewes is the ferry terminal to Cape May – The Jersey Shore, here we come!  Rosie has never taken a car on a passenger ferry before, it was very exciting and all too easy.

We were one of the first cars onto the ferry and would the first off.  Rosie and the Operator went to explore the huge ferry for the 80 min trip.  It was a brisk wind out on the main decks and we found a wee bar at the front of the ferry where we partook in the best bloody mary ever!  It was so spicy it rocked your socks!  It may have been only 1100am but hey, tomato juice is practically a breakfast drink, the liberal pour of vodka, well, fortification for the day ahead.

It was a smooth, calm ride, this wee breakwater in the middle of the channel was a haven for fisherman and looking out to the other side of the boat there were 5 super tankers lined up sitting there waiting to come into port, the amount of traffic in this bay was incredible. This ferry cost $60 to get us and the car over to the other side,  When we landed we were off and headed for Asbury Park in the heart of the Jersey Shore.   The road itself did not take you along the coastal front line, the Interstate turned you off into the towns and cities, even though they are all linked due to size and urban sprawl you are driving through suburban streets until you get to the next place, there is no ‘Coastal Road’ persay.  Bummer.  on the fringes of the Interstate you can see the silhouette shadows of the high rises and Ferris wheels that dot the shoreline…..you never get a glimpse of the sea as you drive basically at sea level.  If you did not know the sea was there…….between the Interstate and the seaside resorts is a marshy, boggy, estuary wide strip of land that has pretty much followed us along the whole East Coast.

Why did Rosie pick Asbury Park as the last stop on the holiday trail……hmmmm, I am not sure, I was getting a little tired and delirious after all the travelling….we booked in advance a suite at The Empress Hotel on the Asbury waterfront, getting closer to New York we couldnt chance rocking up and getting a room and it was the weekend.  Well we couldnt get anywhere near the hotel as zombies had invaded the whole waterfront.

All 5 thousand of them….in order to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the biggest Zombie March in the world.  Are you kidding me!  The Zombies had taken to wandering over the roads and had taken up all the carparks in the town….including we thinks the hotel carparks as well.  The Operator was getting a little short tempered and just kept driving through the throngs of Zombies who were unusually oblivious to the living….Rosie told The Operator numerous times to be careful as even Zombies could sue…his reply was that we had the perfect defence….they were already dead.  The Operator double parked and unloaded the bags whilst Rosie checked in moaning and groaning about the lack of parking….The Operator went out to brave the street in order to find a carpark….Rosie unpacked her bags, slipped into something a little more comfortable, it was very humid again, cracked open a frosty beverage for The Operator and waited for his return.  And waited.  And waited.  Rosie was almost resigned 48 mins later that her beloved Operator must have succumbed to the marauding zombie pack when he appeared after having parked about a 5 km walk away in a dubious area far from the clutches of the zombies…..but in an area where you do not want to visit at night….The Operator thought it would be touch and go if our Dodge would still be there come morning.   Over the now warm beer we had a fantastic view from the balcony of the oncoming zombie tide which was lead along the boardwalk by a gay zombie marching band.  Come on, this is America, nothing should surprise you anymore.

In the afterglow of the Zombie invasion Asbury Park was very flat the next day, a lonely person wandered the beach in search of buried treasure…Rosie is so not mocking, she would give anything for a metal detector!  This towns claim to fame was local man Bruce Springsteen making it big in the 70s, he found fame and sprung to prominence at the live venue The Stone Pony Nightclub.

After he made it big and moved on, the town went into decline, followed by a still in progress come back – led by wealthy gay men from NYC who snapped up large blocks of forgotten Victorian homes and stores which they refurbished.  These are pictures of the closed down arcades that line the boardwalk on the beaches edge.  The area is a little rough but it seems to be a favourite for the wedding photographers….

…..that evening we counted 4 brides and their huge entourages all having photos taken at the derelict abandoned buildings that graced the waterfront.  The town centre is a couple of blocks walk from where we were staying, there were great cafes and restaurants aplenty along the drag between lovely design stores and clothing outlets…..there were also rainbow flags aplenty along with hundreds of well groomed, dressed men everywhere.  There was no mistaking The Operator, his stubble wasnt designer nor the cut of his jeans or the sway of his hips.

This is the view from The Empress balcony, as the name probably suggests, it is run by a band of trendy boys, who flap their hands alot yet give really good service. They have a bar in the lobby where breakfast is served in the morning and their is a night club up the far end of the hotel….under the room we were staying in. 

 Rosie didnt care, the noise wasnt that bad and the strobing coloured neon at the entrance that illuminated our room when the lights were out was quite……therapeutic in conjunction with the beat of the bass…..hhhmmmmmm……I am sure it was Tripadvisor who is to blame for this stay……

Ocean Grove is immediately to the south of Asbury Park and only a couple of mins drive away. You dont have any ‘countryside’ separating the towns as you would expect when you go from one place to another….it kind of just merges and morphs from one town to another. It is a wealthier more well heeled place, the old Victorian mansions are huge and well maintained.

The wide boardwalk stretches across the beach front and was popular with joggers and dog walkers but it was  really empty and abit forlorn, Rosie was surprised how few people were out and about at the beach on a Sunday morning….

 We had a good walk though and got back to the car just in time for a shower of rain to pass through.  It was time to check out the town, we drove through it and the shops were set in neat Victorian verandahed shops and were very pretty.  We parked at the end of the street and walked up one side and down the other.

Halloween is Rosies favourite time of the year in the US, she loves the decorations and looks for ideas and decorations in shops and front yards to bring home for Halloween at the beach. Rosie loves the pumpkins, although these ones were little designer ones, you cannot beat the big huge round orange pumpkins. Rosie is itching to re create the perfect jack o lantern.  Maybe next year.

We left Asbury Park nice and early and drove directly to JFK to catch our flight back to San Francisco, the drive was an hour long and in the early morning traffic was a doddle, the GPS drove us straight to the rental counter, we handed in the keys and that was the end of our holiday, only a 20 hour flight to go….broken up of course with another trip to the Farralon Oyster Bar…..you can never have too many oysters!  Another great holiday all wrapped up, thanks for sharing it with Rosie and The Operator!